In working with choreographer Sophie Henning, we explored the idea of an existing but uncurable and unidentified medical trauma that induces pain and paralysis. The music drifts from this paralysis to feelings of hope that comfort but ultimately do not solve the severe and debilitating medical condition.

PERFORMANCES

May 14, 2019 by the UMKC Dance Department, Petal by Petal , The Mulberry Room, KCMO.

In a biblical account (Mark 8:22-25), a blind man is healed by Christ in two stages. After his first blessing, Jesus asks the blind man if he sees anything. The blind person responds: I see men as trees, walking. Then (and only then), Christ finishes healing the blind man to full sight.

This hazy space between petition and the actualization of hoped miracles creates a special tension and yearning I invoke through the music. My work calls attention to a sparse temporal space and atmosphere from which the music drifts in and out of colorful clarity through several textural and contrapuntal soundscapes. Underlying these textures is a strumming refrain, first introduced by the viola. Also notable are open-string harmonies and quick arpeggiating passages that develop and ultimately fuse together in the work.

This work was written for Quarteto L’Arianna with double bassist Pedro Gadelha at the São Paulo Contemporary Composers Festival.

Performances

September 24th, 2018 by the Quarteto L’Arianna with double bassist Pedro Gadelha at the Catedral de Sé, São Paulo, Brazil.

A setting of the text of the same name by Federico García Lorca, Romance Sonambulo explores the relationships of words and ideas within the poet's bleak yet beautiful text. Lorca contrasts the joys of nature to the persecutions of the Gypsies shortly before the Spanish Civil War. For this and other poems seeking social change, Lorca was later assassinated.

A Faraday Cage allows a safe area from currents or transmissions. For example, when lightning strikes an automobile, the driver will not be shocked, being in the vehicle. The driver is surrounded by the charge—being inside the conductive material; however, the car acts as a Faraday Cage and isolates its interior from outside forces. A musical example would be a safe haven from radio or telecommunication, an isolation from outside noises.

The piece is symbolic of the battle between the outside influences and voices that the world has to offer and the subtle, yet sublime inner peace that comes from following the values that resonate in the heart. Each part yearns for inner peace while surrounded by the dissonance of its opposing parts. Allusions to early chant music echo the search for peace that comes from hearkening to the ancient and eternal truths revealed by God. The unison ending refers to the ultimate finding of tranquility through God.